Postmodernism in music originated in the 1980s when up-and-coming composers such as Adams and Corigliano turned to the past for styles, quotations and other points of departure. In terms of compositional philosophy and musical effect, however, there is often little to differentiate their work from that of Stravinsky or Shostakovich in the 1930s. Some essentially modernist composers in the 1930s and 1960s, for example Kagel and Ligeti, have looked with scepticism and humour on the past. It is the idea of looking with scepticism or humour on the past that seems relevant to modern-day marketing communications. Many television advertisements employ popular music tunes to sell cars, jeans, beer and other types of consumer good.
For instance, in the USA, if you want to create magic in 2002, it should take the form of a Mercedes-Benz car according to the advertisements of the car company. The message is reinforced by the musical accompaniment of strains of the pop group Lovin' Spoonful's 1966 hit. While it is not clear why this particular combination was featured in the advertisement, two explanations are plausible. It could be that it is targeted at people in their 50s who will have emotionally bonded with the hit at a young age or it may merely be the indulgence of a middle-aged Mercedes executive (or advertising executive) who remembers the tune fondly and assumes that the target audience will respond in a similar manner.
Again in the USA, Wrangler sells jeans to Credence Clearwater Revival's ‘Fortunate Son'. Other examples include Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the heavy-string rock band of the early 1970s, which has been revived to sell Volkswagen Beetles. ELO's ‘Mr Blue Sky', which was about sunny days and babies joining the human race, now celebrates the rebirth of the classic VW car in the 21st century. In addition there is the Gap, which sells sweaters to the tune of O'Jay's classic, ‘Love Train'. Music is an effective means for triggering mood and communicating nonverbally.
In marketing, music has been employed in advertising contexts to influence listeners' emotions, judgements and behaviours. Where messages are generally secondary to the information that a listener or viewer seeks, as is the case in television and radio advertising, music can be used to attract and hold attention or induce a positive mood towards the advertised product or service.
In an advertising context, music can operate as a form of non-verbal communication, conveying information in a different way to written and spoken material. However, although music may influence audiences' perceptions, memory and persuasion, so far knowledge of exactly when, how, and why music operates as it does seems rather limited. Classical as well as popular music seems to be a fruitful medium for creating the ambience necessary to reinforce promotional messages. Adrian North and David Hargreaves, for example, have found that classical music prompted the purchase of more expensive wine in an off-licence, compared with when the top 40 was played. Classical music is finding its way into the promotion and advertising of global products.
Levi's advertisements have come to be regarded as an indicator of cultural change. Ever since Nick Kamen removed his shirt and pants in a launderette in 1985 to the sound of Marvin Gaye's ‘I Heard it Through the Grapevine', the Levi's advertisement has been a quasi-cultural icon, encapsulating the perceptions and aspirations of older teenagers whose attention the advertiser wants to capture. The launderette advertisement was successful not only for Levi but also because it put soul music back on the map. In addition, it put ‘Grapevine' to number one in the pop charts. Jonathan Glazer, who devised award-winning surf horses for Guinness and ‘Last Orders' for Stella Artois advertisements, has experimented with a musical illustration from the classical repertoire in Levi's recent ‘freedom to move ad'.
However, the soundtrack for this advertisement is the Sarabande from the Suite in D minor for solo harpsichord by Handel. Classics traditionally evoke nostalgia (brown bread), safety (motor oil), comfort (club class) and perfumes of every kind. Traditionally, the ‘moodgenerating music' for young people is pop and rock. One could argue that classical music turned the story in the advertisement into a piece of theatre. Apparently, during the research and development of the Levi advertisement, musicologists were called in and many scores were sampled, from Vivaldi to Bartok, before the Sarabande was considered. We might conjecture that using music in marketing communication advertisements may assist messages and images to achieve specific marketing communications objectives - for example by developing the mood associated with an advertisement.
While there is no evidence of effectiveness measurement or how such effectiveness may be defined within the context of marketing communication effectiveness, research does seem to indicate that music can influence attention and the perceived positioning of products and brands and can lend meaning to otherwise unimportant marketing messages. One explanation for this might be the belief that music fills an important need in people's lives. It constitutes consumption for pleasure that is vital to human experience.
Music with meaning that represents important social and cultural aspects of a target market can be used as a means of strengthening a message. The greater the relevance of the music to the target market, the better may be the expected results. Measuring the effectiveness of music in marketing communications is clearly an important issue and one that merits attention that it has not to date received. A framework for interpreting and analysing music is a prerequisite. It has been argued that: ‘Music that is custom written for a commercial frequently makes little or no sense when heard by itself, away from the context of words and pictures.'
Question
1. How might one conduct conduct research into the effectiveness of classical and pop music in the context of TV advertising?